Olympics

Former Olympian Usain Bolt served as a DJ at the Gold Coast CWG closing ceremony on Sunday.

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

The Gold Coast hosted a "truly memorable Commonwealth Games, among the greatest ever staged -- impressively well-supported, a spectacular showcase for the city and, best of all, aglow with smiles," according to Wayne Smith of THE AUSTRALIAN. Inevitably, too, the success of the Gold Coast Games "has breathed renewed vigour into the bid by Brisbane and its surrounding councils to stage the 2032 Olympic Games." With all the added infrastructure the Gold Coast can bring to that bid -- "not to mention the massive accommodation base" -- there is "absolutely no reason why that regional approach should not sing" to the IOC. One of Australia's "great selling points to the IOC is its reputation of delivering magnificent, safe Games." The Sydney 2000 Games were rated "the greatest Olympics" by former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, "for good reason, and that same know-how and can-do flowed into the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games." The Gold Coast Games have "enhanced and ­enriched that reputation" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 4/16).

The municipal government of Beijing announced on its official website the launch of the tender process for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Games' construction project in the Yanqing district, one of three host areas for the events, according to Nong Ruowen of YUTANG SPORTS. The construction of Yanqing's Winter Olympic stadiums will be divided into two parts. Part A, which includes the National Alpine Ski Center and National Sliding Center, will be "wholly invested by the government during the construction period." After Beijing 2022, the centers "will be renovated and operated" in a public-private partnership model. Part B, consisting of the Olympic Village, media center and other facilities in Yanqing, will be built and operated in a public-private partnership model. The 30-year PPP project will be composed of a 5-year construction period and a 25-year operation period. The government also requires that those capitals which bid for this project "should have experience in large-scale ski resort operation" (YUTANG SPORTS, 4/10).

Former triple jumper and Olympic champion Jonathan Edwards warned the organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympics that "the athletes' experience would determine the success of the Games." Edwards, who was the president of the athletes commission for London 2012, said, "With social media, the athletes start tweeting about the Olympic village or the transport system or the arrivals or the departures and arrivals from the airports, and Paris could be in disarray because it's been trashed by the athletes" (REUTERS, 4/12).

The Int'l Weightlifting Federation hopes that "innovative and creative" rules targeting nations that have violated anti-doping regulations will "secure the long term future of the sport" in the Olympic program. IWF Dir General Attila Adamfi said that the new regulations "should send a clear message that doping will not be tolerated" (REUTERS, 4/13).